Nixon fills Greene County judgeship

Gov. Jay Nixon this week appointed Margaret Ellis Holden as associate judge for the 31st Judicial Circuit Court covering Greene County.

Holden becomes the first woman to hold that role in Greene County, according to a newsletter sent to Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association members.

“Nixon made history appointing Judge Margaret Holden, delivering on the promise that the Missouri Plan, touted to increase diversity on the bench, is fulfilling that promise in our community,” SMBA Executive Director Crista Hogan said in the newsletter.

According to a news release from the governor’s office, Holden succeeds Jason Brown, who was promoted to circuit judge. Holden, chief administrative law judge for the Springfield adjudication office of the Missouri Division of Workers’ Compensation, was one of three finalists for the job Brown ultimately won.

“Judge Holden has capably served the people of Missouri for more than 20 years in presiding over thousands of workers’ compensation cases,” said Nixon, who chose Holden out of a pool of three applicants, in the release. “I am pleased to recognize her ability by appointing her to the associate circuit bench to administer justice for the citizens of Greene County.”

Holden served as a chief administrative law judge 1994-2006 and 2009 to the present. Prior to becoming an administrative law judge, she worked as an assistant prosecuting attorney for Greene County and as an associate attorney for a Springfield law firm.

She has handled bench trials, docket settings, mediations and settlements for work-related injuries, tort compensation cases and compensation cases for crime victims, according to the release.